Arc Hydro GP Tools v2.

0 Tutorial

Set Zunits to 100 in the projection file of the PreFillDem if you are using the tutorial
data to indicate that the elevations are in centimeters. Zunits represents the number of
elevation unit in one meter (100 centimeters in 1 meter).

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Sink Evaluation.

Select as input DEM the Prefilled DEM created by the tool Sink Prescreening. Specify
the name of the output Sink Polygon and Sink Drainage Area feature classes and click
OK.

The tool generates the Sink Polygon and Sink Drainage Area feature classes, and characterizes these
features by populating area, depth, etc. so that the user can decide which sinks to retain for the
analysis.

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8. Sink Selection
This tool allows selecting sinks based on various criteria. The sinks meeting the criteria will have their
field IsSink populated with 1.

Open the Attributes table of SinkPoly and look at the values of the attributes.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Sink Selection.

Select as input Deranged Polygon the SinkPoly feature class generated by the Sink
Evaluation tool. Specify one or several selection criteria for the input polygons to be
populated with IsSink=1, i.e. to be considered as real sinks in the following analyses.

Select whether to overwrite the existing records having IsSink set to 1 and click OK.

The tool populates the field IsSink with 1 for the polygons meeting the specified criteria.

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9. Fill Sinks
This tool fills in the sinks in the input DEM and generates the output Fil grid. The Deranged Polygon
is an optional input that will be ignored if left blank. If it is specified, it will be used to locate the areas
that should not be filled (i.e. real sinks).
You are going to run the tool twice. The first time you will fill all sinks and create a filled grid called
FillAll. The second time you will not fill the real sinks, i.e. the Sink Poly features having IsSink = 1.
First run

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Fill Sinks.

Select PreFillDEM as input DEM and rename the output Hydro DEM FilAll.

Leave Fill Threshold and Input Deranged Polygon blank and click OK.

Note that Use IsSink field is used only when a Deranged Polygon is set, to indicate whether to use
only the features having IsSink set to 1.

The function fills all the sinks in the input DEM.

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Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Fill Sinks.

Select PreFillDEM as input DEM and rename the output Hydro DEM FilSink.

Select SinkPoly as Input Deranged Polygon and check Use IsSink field. Click OK.

The tool fills only the sinks having IsSink <> 1, i.e. it does not fill the sink polygons identified as real
sinks that have IsSink = 1.

10. Flow Direction

This tool computes the flow direction grid for an input Hydro DEM, i.e. a DEM that may have
modified by reconditioning, walls building, filling, etc.

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Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Flow Direction.

Specify FillAll as input HydroDEM and rename the output flow direction grid
FdrFilled.
Leave the optional input Outer Wall Polygon blank and click OK.

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The tool generates the Flow Direction Grid associated to the input Hydro DEM and adds it to the
Table of Contents of ArcMap.

11. Flow Direction with Sinks

This tool generates the Flow Direction Grid for DEMs with sinks and ensures that the water from each
cell within a given sink drainage area flows towards the same location in the sink polygon represented
by a sink point.

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Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Flow Direction with Sinks.

Select FilSink as input Hydro DEM, i.e. a filled elevation grid with sinks. Set
SinkPoly as the input Deranged Polygon feature class representing the sinks. Only the
sink features having IsSink set to 1 will be considered as sinks. Set the optional Outer
Wall Polygon to blank.
Rename the output Flow Direction Grid FdrSink and click OK.

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The tool generates the output Flow Direction Grid as well as the output Sink Point feature class, Sink
Link Grid and Sink Watershed Grid. The Sink Point feature class stores the point toward which each
cell within a sink will flow. The Sink Link Grid is a grid where each sink has a unique identifier. Sink
Watershed Grid is a grid representing the drainage areas for each sink. It may be used later in the
analysis to define the areas where the drainage lines should not be created.
12. Flow Accumulation
This tool generates the Flow Accumulation grid associated to the input flow direction grid: each cell in
the flow accumulation grid stores the number of cells located upstream of that cell.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Flow Accumulation.

Select FdrFilled as input Flow Direction Grid. Click OK.

The tool generates the output flow accumulation grid and adds it to the map.

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13. Stream Definition

This tool generates the stream grid for an input flow accumulation grid and a threshold. Unlike the
related function in the standard Arc Hydro tools, you need to specify the threshold in number of cells
defining where a stream should start without any feedback from the function. The recommended value
is usually around 1% of the maximum flow accumulation value.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Stream Definition.

Select Fac as input Flow Accumulation Grid and specify a threshold that is
approximately 1% of the maximum value of the Flow Accumulation grid (i.e. 40,000
for the tutorial data). Click OK.

The tool generates the output stream grid and adds it to the map.

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14. Stream Segmentation

This tool generates the stream link grid for an input stream grid and flow direction grid. All cells in a
given link segment have the same value that uniquely identify the segment.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Stream Segmentation.

Specify the input stream grid and flow direction grid and the output stream link grid,
and keep the optional Sink Watershed Grid and Sink Link Grid inputs blank.

If you do not want to create stream links (and hence drainage lines later on) within the
sinks, specify an input Sink Link Grid.
If you do not want to create stream links within the drainage areas of the sinks, specify
an input Sink Watershed Grid.

Notes

The tool generates the output stream link grid StrLnk and adds it to the map.

15. Flow Direction with Streams

This tool generates the Drainage Line feature class first based on the input Flow Direction Grid. It
subsequently uses the input Stream feature class to add any existing flow splits. This tool may be used
instead of the Stream Definition tool that uses a threshold to generate the Drainage Line. It does not
use a threshold but tries to match as closely as possible the geometry of the input digitized streams.
Another reason to use it instead of the Stream Definition tool is that it allows maintaining flows splits.
This tool edits the input Flow Direction grid to generate an output Stream Sloped Flow Direction grid
that ensures that the water remains within a given stream and does not jump between streams near
confluences. It also generates the output Stream Link Grid required to generate Catchments.
The output Edit Points and HydroRiverPoints feature classes are used in the grid editing process.

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Note
The input Stream feature class must contain a populated HydroID field.

Double-click Attribute Tools > Assign HydroID.

Select NHDFlowline as input feature class and click OK.

The tool creates and populates the HydroID field in the attributed table of NHDFlowline.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Flow Direction with Streams.

Specify FdrFilled as input Flow Direction Grid and NHDFlowline as input Stream.

Rename the output StrSlpFdr1, StrLnk1, EditPoints1, HydroRiverPoints1 and

DrainageLine1 and click OK.

The 5 outputs are added into the Table of Contents of ArcMap.

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The tool also generates in the target geodatabase the flow split table DrainageLine1_FS that stores
additional downstream connectivity.

16. Combine Stream Link and Sink Link

This tool generates the link grid by combining links for dendritic (stream link) and deranged (sink
link) terrains.

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Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Combine Stream Link and Sink Link.

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Specify the input Stream Link Grid and Sink Link Grid, as well as the output Link
Grid. Click OK.

The tool creates the Sink Link Grid and adds it into the Table of Contents of ArcMap.

17. Catchment Grid Delineation

This tool generates the catchment grid associated to an input flow direction grid and link grid.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Catchment Grid Delineation.

Select FdrFilled as input Flow Direction grid and StrLink as input Link Grid. Click
OK.

The tool generates the output catchment grid and adds it to the map.

18. Catchment Polygon Processing

This tool generates the catchment polygon feature classes corresponding to the input catchment grid.

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Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Catchment Polygon Processing.

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Specify the input catchment grid and output catchment polygon feature class. Click
OK.

The tool generates the output catchment polygon feature class and adds it to the map.

19. Drainage Line Processing

This tool generates the drainage line feature class associated to an input stream link grid and flow
direction grid.

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Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Drainage Line Processing.

Select StrLnk as input Stream Link Grid and FdrFilled as input Flow Direction Grid.
Rename the output DrainageLine and click OK.

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The tool generates the output drainage line feature class and adds it to the map.

20. Adjoint Catchment Processing

This tool generates the adjoint catchment polygon feature class associated to an input catchment and
drainage line feature classes.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Adjoint Catchment Processing and click

OK.

The tool generates the output adjoint catchment polygon feature class and adds it to the map. The field
DrainID stores the HydroID of the associated Catchment.
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The tool also creates and populates the field NextDownID in the Catchment feature class with the
HydroID of the next downstream Catchment. It also creates the flow split table Catchment_FS that
stores the additional connectivity. This table is created empty as there is no flow split in the input
Drainage Line feature class.
The tool populates the field DrainID in the Drainage Line feature class with the HydroID of its
associated Catchment.

21. Drainage Point Processing

This tool generates the drainage point feature class associated to an input catchment feature class and
flow accumulation grid. Drainage Point features represent the location of the cell with the maximum
flow accumulation value within each catchment.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Drainage Point Processing and click OK.

The tool generates the output Drainage Point feature class and adds it to the map. The DrainID field
stores the HydroID of the associated Catchment.

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22. Slope
This tools generates the slope grid in percent or degrees associated to the input DEM. It reads the
ZUnit from the projection file defined for the grid and applies the corresponding ZFactor to the
elevations in the grid to obtain a slope with the correct units.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Slope and specify the input DEM and the type
of measurement for the grid (percent or degree). Keep the default name for the output
Slope grid and click OK.

The tool generates the Slope grid for the input DEM.

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23. Depression Evaluation

This tool allows characterizing potential depressions in the input DEMam within that lake.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Depression Evaluation and specify the input
DEM. Keep the defaults for the output Depression and Depression Drainage Area
feature classes. Click OK.

The tool generates the Depression and Depression Area polygon feature classes.

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24. Adjust Flow Direction in Lakes

This tool allows editing the input Flow Direction Grid within lake features intersecting input streams
so that any cell within a lake flows toward the closest stream within that lake.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing > Adjust Flow Direction in Lakes and specify
the input DEM and the type of measurement for the grid (percent or degree). Keep the
default name for the output Slope grid and click OK.

Note
You can cleanup the temporary folder associated to the tools by using the function ApUtilities >
Additional Utilities Clean Users Temp Folder available on the Arc Hydro Tools toolbar in ArcMap.

Save your map and close your map document.

After closing the map, you may want to manually cleanup any remaining (locked) files in your
windows temp location. This location defaults to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local
Settings\Temp.

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Terrain Preprocessing Workflows

The Terrain Preprocessing Workflows toolset contains 4 models as examples of models that string
together some of the Terrain Preprocessing tools and allow performing a dendritic terrain
preprocessing workflow. It also contains a Batch Processing tool allowing running a model on multiple
input data in batch mode.

Note
Additional examples of workflows that apply to diverse types of terrains are provided in the document
Comprehensive terrain preprocessing using Arc Hydro tools.
1. Basic Dendritic Terrain Processing

Open a new map and add the filled DEM grid filallgrid from the DataGP\Model
folder. Add the Arc Hydro Tools toolbox if needed and save the map as Model.mxd
for example.

Right-click Terrain Preprocessing Workflows > Basic Dendritic Terrain

Processing and select Open.

The model requires 2 input parameters: a filled DEM and the number of cells defining a stream. This
threshold is used in the model to define the stream grid from the flow accumulation grid.

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Click Cancel to close the form and right-click Batch Terrain Preprocessing > Basic
Dendritic Terrain Processing and select Edit to display the model.

Right-click Fil and select Open. Browse to an input Filled DEM grid FilAll and click
OK.

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Right-click Number of cells and select an appropriate threshold for the input filled
DEM (e.g. 40,000 if you are using the tutorial data). Click OK.
Right-click and open each data in the green circles. Remove the full path if needed
and keep only the name of the output data. If the full path is set, the tool will generate
the data in that location. If it is not set, it will use the default target vector/raster
location set in the environment.

After resetting the data paths if needed, select Model > Run or click the arrow on the
toolbar to run the model.

The execution processes through each step the tool currently being run is displayed
in red.

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The model will run through each tool and updates the status in the processing window to Completed
when done. Note that Flow Accumulation is the slowest step in the model and can take up to a few
minutes.

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Close the model without saving the changes after completion of the run.

The following data is generated and added into the Table of Contents of ArcMap:

Note
You may need to add the tables Catchment_FS and DrainageLine_FS manually.

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Save your map and close ArcMap.

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2. Batch Processing
The Batch Processing tool allows running a model in batch mode. It will run the model for each
subdirectory within the global location specified as input parameter by the user. The batch tool is
configured by default to run with the Basic Dendritic Terrain Processing model.
You are going to use the tutorial data from the DataGP\Global directory.

Copy the DataGP\Global directory into the location where you want to create your
data (e.g. Results\GPTools).

This directory contains 4 subdirectories (1111, 2222, 3333 and 4444) that each
contains an elevation grid (dem) and a filled elevation grid (fil).

The dem is the original elevation grid for each area considered and the fil grid the corresponding filled
elevation grid. The fil elevation is the input grid used by the previous workflow. The batch process
allows applying the workflow to each fil grid and generating the preprocessed data for each
subdirectory in batch mode. Note that the same threshold will be used to generate the stream grid for
each study area (e.g. 10000 cells).

Open a new map document. You do not need to save the map.

Right-click the model Basin Dendritic Terrain Processing and make sure that none of
the data in green is set using a full path. Remove the path if needed. Close and save
the model if you edited it.

Double-click Terrain Preprocessing Workflows > Batch Processing.

Browse to the global location containing the subdirectories to process. Each

subdirectory must contain the inputs required to run the model (fil) as well as the grid
used to create the output Spatial Reference for the vector location (fil).

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Keep the default for Input Model and Command Line Arguments but replace 5000
with 10000 for the stream threshold to use. By default, this parameter is set to:

BasicDendriticTerrainProcessing_archydro %RASTERLOCATION%\fil 5000

Where:

BasicDendriticTerrainProcessing_archydro is the name of the model to run

%RASTERLOCATION%\fil 10000 are the input parameters required by the model:
%RASTERLOCATION% is the raster target location that will be replaced on runtime
with the raster location corresponding to the subdirectory being processed.
5000 is the threshold in number of cells defining the start of a stream.

Notes

Input vector data would be defined using the variable %VECTORLOCATION% that
would be replaced on run time with the vector target location for each subdirectory.
Specify the name of the grid used to set the spatial reference for the output vector
location (e.g. fil). This grid must exist in each subdirectory.

Click OK to run the tools.

For each subdirectory under the specified global data location:

1. The batch tool first runs the Set Batch Target Locations geoprocessing tool using the name of the
specified Grid. You need to have a raster with that name (e.g. Fil) in each subdirectory.
2. The batch tool then runs the specified model. It stores its name in the active configuration in
memory under
HydroConfig/ProgParams/ApFunctions/ApFunction(BatchTerrainProcessing)/BatchProcessingMo
delName.
Note
The batch tool resets the initial Arc Hydro configuration at the end of the processing.

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Close the map without saving it.

3. How to create your own model

This section describes how to edit the existing model to create a new model that will require as input a
Raw DEM (e.g. elev_cm) and a stream feature class (e.g. NHDFlowline).

Open a new map document and add the Arc Hydro toolbox if needed.

Right-click ArcToolbox and select Add Toolbox. Navigate to the location where you
want to store your new toolbox (e.g. Results\GPTools) and then click the New
Toolbox icon on the top right of the Add Toolbox window.

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Rename the new toolbox My Arc Hydro Tools.tbx. Click Open to add the toolbox
into the ArcToolbox window.

Right-click the Basic Dendritic Terrain Processing model and select Copy. Navigate
to your new toolbox, right-click and select Paste.

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Right-click the model in your new toolbox and select Properties. Switch to the
General tab. Rename this model BasicDendriticTerrainProcessingAgreeFill and label
it Basic Terrain Preprocessing with Reconditioning and Fill. Click OK.

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Right-click the model and select Edit. Drag the Fill Sinks tool from the Arc Hydro
Tools toolbox > Terrain Preprocessing toolset into the model.

Delete the Fil grid input to the Flow Direction tool.

Select the DerangedPoly input to Fill Sinks if visible and delete it as this is an optional
output that will not be used. Right-click Fill Sinks and select Open. Set the Fill
Threshold to blank, the output to Fil and click OK.

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Click to select and delete the input grid to the Flow Direction tool (e.g. filall).

Right-click Flow Direction, select Open and set the input Hydro DEM to Fil, the
output to the Fill Sinks tool.

Save the model, then drag DEM Reconditioning into the model.

Delete the input to the Fill Sinks tool (e.g. DEM). Right-click Fill Sinks and select
Open. Set its input grid to Output AGREE DEM.

Right-click RawDEM and AgreeStream and make them Model Parameters.

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